Afternoon, folks! We trust you all had a great weekend? Your NFL team did well, you enjoyed the finale of Breaking Bad, etc. We’ve got a big week planned for you guys, with Dr. Adam Jahnke’s annual Hell Plaza Oktoberfest officially kicking off here at The Bits tomorrow! Meanwhile, give your coffee a warm up because we’ve got some big announcement news to start your afternoon...

The big news is that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium for release on Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 12/17 (SRP $40.99 and $30.99). We don’t think this is the complete list of extras, but the Blu-ray will at least include 8 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Visions of 2154, The Journey to Elysium: Envisioning Elysium, The Journey to Elysium: Capturing Elysium, The Journey to Elysium: Enhancing Elysium, Collaboration: Crafting the Performances in Elysium, The Technology of 2154, In Support of Story: The Visual Effects of Elysium and Engineering Utopia: Creating a Society in the Sky). You can see the BD cover artwork below. [Read on here...]

As promised, we’ve got some good stuff here at The Bits for you today…

First up, our own Bud Elder has checked in with a new View from the Cheap Seats column in which he muses on alternate film casting and also runs down some of the more interesting home video releases on Blu-ray, DVD and DVD-R. Don’t miss it!

I’ve turned in a combo review of 20th Century Fox’s Homeland: Seasons One and Two on Blu-ray. It’s one of my favorite series currently on TV – a brilliantly cast, acted and written spy drama that won last year’s Emmy for Best Drama Series – and its third season debuts this coming Sunday night on Showtime. If you’re not watching it already, I strongly encourage you to give it a look. [Read on here…]

So I had this whole news update post planned for today, along with Bud’s new View from the Cheap Seats column and a new Blu-ray review or two as well, and I was deep in the process of getting it all ready to go live on the site, when something happened that completely distracted me.

I figured I’d share it with you guys this afternoon, because it goes right to my cinema geek credibility. And I knew that some of you would appreciate it as much as I do. [Read on here...]

Also, our own Russell Hammond has just updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking through our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we greatly appreciate it.

In announcement news today, Well Go USA Entertainment has just set IP Man: The Final Fight for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/12 (SRP $29.98 and $24.98). Extras will include a making of featurette, 11 cast and crew interviews and both the U.S. and international trailers. [Read on here...]

The big release news today is that Disney has just officially set The Lone Ranger for Blu-ray Combo and Digital release on 12/17. Extras will include a blooper reel, a deleted scene and 3 behind-the-scenes featurettes (totaling about 32 minutes – Riding the Rails of The Lone Ranger, Armies’ Western Road Trip and Becoming a Cowboy). You’ll find the final official cover artwork below.

PBS Distribution has announced an American Experience: War of the Worlds DVD release on 11/29, honoring the 75th anniversary of the original Orson Welles / Mercury Theater radio broadcast on 10/30. [Read on here…]

In announcement news today, Shout! and Scream Factory have set Night of the Comet for release on Blu-ray Combo on 11/19. Check out this list of extras they’ve compiled: audio commentary with writer/director Thom Eberhardt, audio commentary with stars Kelli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart, audio commentary with production designer John Muto, 3 featurettes (Valley Girls at the End of the World, The Last Man on Earth? and Curse of the Comet), a stills gallery and the film’s theatrical trailer. Not bad! [Read on here...]

First, the good Dr. Jahnke has turned in a couple newly-upgraded classic Blu-ray reviews from The Original Bits for you to read today. In this case, it’s a pair of excellent Shout! Factory titles from the Roger Corman catalog – Piranha and Starcrash. Enjoy!

Also today, our own Russell Hammond has just posted this week’s Release Dates & Artwork update with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we surely do appreciate it.

About Bill Hunt

Bill Hunt is the Editor in Chief of The Digital Bits, and the co-author (with Todd Doogan) of the Amazon Top 50 selling book The Digital Bits: Insiders Guide to DVD. Hunt founded The Bits in 1997, in the early days of the DVD format,…

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